Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one type of lipophilic pollutant, are ubiquitous in daily life. PCBs exposure has been implicated in the alterations of gut microbial community which is profoundly associated with diverse metabolic disorders, including obesity. High-fat diet (H) is a dietary pattern characterized by a high percentage of fat. According to the theory that similarities can be easily solvable in each other, PCBs and H exposures are inevitably and objectively coexistent in a real living environment, prompting great concerns about their individual and combined effects on hosts. However, the effects of PCBs-H interactions on gut microbiota and obesity are still incompletely understood. In the present study, the effects of PCBs and/or H on the gut microbiota alteration and obesity risk in mice were examined and the interactions between PCBs and H were investigated. Obtained results showed that PCBs and/or H exposure induced prominent variations in the gut microbiota composition and diversity. Exposure to PCBs also resulted in higher body fat percentage, greater size of abdominal subcutaneous adipocytes and increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, iNOS and IL-6. Such PCBs-induced changes could be further enhanced upon the co-exposure of H, implying that obese individuals may be vulnerable to PCBs exposure. Taken together, the present study is helpful for a better understanding of the gut microbiota variation influenced by PCBs and/or H exposure, and furthermore, provides a novel insight into the mechanism of PCBs-H interactions on host adiposity.

Waste management is the protection of the environment and the health of the population. Paper waste sludge is produced during paper production and sepiolite is a natural clay mineral. The aim of the study was to investigate the usability of sepiolite-added paper waste sludge as a bedding material in the broiler production. Two hundred eighty-eight 1-day old male broiler chicks were divided into the 6 bedding material groups (wood shavings (control), paper waste sludge, sepiolite, mix of 25% paper waste sludge and 75% sepiolite, mix of 50% paper waste sludge and 50% sepiolite, and mix of 75% paper waste sludge and 25% sepiolite) with 6 replicate pens per group. Litter quality, performance, and some welfare parameters of broilers were assessed during the 6 weeks’ period. Body weight at 42 days of age and body weight gain from 0 to 42 days of broilers reared on the wood shavings and mix of 50% paper waste sludge and 50% sepiolite were found higher than those of the sepiolite and paper waste sludge groups. Feed consumption and feed to gain ratio from 0 to 42 days, yields of carcass and carcass parts, percentages of organs and abdominal fat, IgG, percentage of bursa Fabricius, burns of foot pad and breast, litter pH and meat properties of broilers reared on the wood shavings, paper waste sludge, and sepiolite litter groups were not found to be statistically different. Litter moisture was found higher in the paper waste sludge group than that in the sepiolite group at the 42 days of rearing. As a conclusion, usage of mix of 50% paper waste sludge and 50% sepiolite as a litter does not have any negative effects on performance, welfare, and litter quality. This result is important in terms of utilizing a waste product.

This study has evaluated the possible effect of waste powder of green tea (Camellia sinensis) in feed supplementation on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood parameters, and lipid metabolites of growing broilers (chicks) in both the amount and duration aspects of dietary additives during the finisher phases. In the experiment, growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood parameters, and lipid metabolites of broiler chicks have been fully recorded and explored. The diet of 271 day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks has been supplemented with 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00% (w/w) green tea powder in addition to normal feeding additives. The experiment lasted for 21 and 42 days, respectively, for each value of the green tea supplement and for separate groups of animals. Broiler feed has been supplemented with different levels of green tea powder to assess the trial effect and potential beneficial dose on selected growth performance, carcass characteristics, and blood parameters of broiler chicks. Although there are almost no differences of broiler parameters and characteristics measured from one point of view of single treatment factor (amount or duration), against the control groups during the three trial periods, the overall effect of amount and duration of feeding green tea powder is positive on growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood parameters, and lipid metabolites of growing broilers, although there are nearly no differences in some broiler parameters and characteristics. However, there are a remarkable interactive effect of amount and duration of different feeding levels of green tea powder and obvious differences observed in all the parameters and characteristics of growing broilers. Especially, usage of feeding green tea powder largely decreased the abdominal fat content and some lipid metabolites, including VLDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and AST of broiler chicks. While additional data are still needed to evaluate and analyze the optimum supplement feed doses, it can be concluded that dietary green tea is a positive feed supplementation to reduce abdominal fat and lipid metabolites and induce antioxidants.

Increasing levels of Heracleum persicum (golpar) in drinking water were studied in broilers. Two hundred and forty-one-day-old male chickens were allocated to one of six treatments: control, without added phytogenics nor probiotics in drinking water, and probiotics at recommended manufacturer’s level (P) or 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 ml/l of golpar extract solution (G1, G1.5, G2, and G2.5 treatments, respectively) in drinking water. As a result of this study, no linear or quadratic trends in the feed intake (FI) and feed conversion rate (FCR) due to golpar supplementation were found. Body weight gain, final body weight, and relative carcass weight showed a positive linear response with increasing levels of golpar supplementation. Neither golpar nor probiotics had effects on the percentages of edible parts of the carcass. Golpar supplementation levels caused a linear negative response of the albumin content in blood plasma, whereas both abdominal fat as percentage of carcass weight and uric acid levels in blood plasma linearly increased. The effects on Ig responses were only observed at 42 days of age and were similar in probiotics and the highest level of golpar supplementation. Based on our results, both probiotics and golpar supplementation could improve broiler performance and immune function.